Political Losers of 2013

June 5, 2014 7:58 PM

Photo: Jordan Stead/seattlepi.com

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Tim Eyman has made a living and kept himself in the public eye through 14 years of sponsoring ballot initiatives. He was dealt a black eye by voters in November. Eyman suffered his worst-ever defeat when only 37.29 percent of voters backed his Initiative 517, which would have given for-profit signature firms more time to circulate petitions and given them carte blanche to work virtually everywhere.

Not only did Eyman lose, but he alienated powerful business lobbies who have used and been used by this ersatz populist. No more, says the Washington Food Industry Association. The Association of Washington Business is feeling burned. What will become of Eyman if the initiative business is no longer remunerative?

Tim Eyman has made a living and kept himself in the public eye through 14 years of sponsoring ballot initiatives. He was dealt a black eye by voters in November. Eyman suffered his worst-ever defeat when only

Tim Eyman has made a living and kept himself in the public eye... Photo-5640518.76656 - Beaumont Enterprise

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U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia erupts every time the Brethren rule in favor of gay rights, believing that government should not regulate boardrooms but has every right to enter the bedroom. When the Supremes overturned Texas' sodomy law in 2003, Scalia warned it would advance the "homosexual agenda." He isn't getting any happier. Scalia described as "jaw dropping" the court's June ruling against the anti-gay Defense of Marriage Act, declaring: "It is an assertion of judicial supremacy over the peoples' representatives in Congress and the executive."

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia erupts every time the Brethren rule in favor of gay rights, believing that government should not regulate boardrooms but has every right to enter the bedroom. When

U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert, lone Republican congressman from the Puget Sound area, showed less independence and grew less accessible during the year. Although he chairs a House Ways & Means subcommittee overseeing federal nutrition programs, Reichert voted for legislation to cut 3.8 million people off Food Stamps in 2014. The former sheriff used to hear out and verbally disarm liberal protest delegations. But Reichert's office no longer publishes schedules of his appearances. As well, his loyalty isn't being rewarded. Rep. Doc Hastings, a fellow Washington Republican, has sat for three years on a Reichert bill to expand the Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area in eastern King County.

President Barack Obama felt his reelection would finally break Washington, D.C., gridlock. Fat chance. The gun lobby shot down Obama's hopes for firearms safety legislation. A sweeping, bipartisan immigration reform plan passed in the Senate, only to be blocked by House Republican leaders. The Affordable Care Act website became a joke for late-night comedians. The 44th president's aloofness compounds his problems. The "Hope" symbol of 2008 does not engage. Illustrative was Obama's "cash and dash" Seattle trip in November. The President held no public events. He traveled alone in his limo to two big-ticket fundraisers. He took questions only from those who paid $16,200 apiece to attend. Reporters weren't even allows to hear his answers.

Mike McGinn became the third Seattle mayor in 12 years bounced out of office by the voters. It was close. Mid-campaign polls showed a 20-point Ed Murray lead. McGinn ended up with 47.5 percent of the vote, carrying low-income neighborhoods which for the first time felt attention from City Hall.

The mayor declined to cultivate the city's elites, faced unrelenting opposition from the Seattle Times' reactionary editorial page, and never recovered from trying to block the deep bore tunnel project. Politicians he alienated, like ex-Gov. Christine Gregoire, got their revenge.

Mike McGinn became the third Seattle mayor in 12 years bounced out of office by the voters. It was close. Mid-campaign polls showed a 20-point Ed Murray lead. McGinn ended up with 47.5 percent of the vote,

Mike McGinn became the third Seattle mayor in 12 years bounced out... Photo-5640574.76656 - Beaumont Enterprise

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Popular former Seattle City Councilman Peter Steinbrueck likely could have won the Seattle mayor's job in 2009. Steinbrueck waited an election cycle too long, and finished third in this August's primary. He ran a campaign that seemed to believe the electorate consisted of old graduates of Lakeside School and anti-sports arena activists. Up until election night, some (e.g. Publicola) were predicting Steinbrueck in the finals. But his campaign turned out to be kind of a death knell for the "old Seattle," the city's longtime faithful voters. The Emerald City is getting more diverse in its ethnic makeup, and growing younger.

Popular former Seattle City Councilman Peter Steinbrueck likely could have won the Seattle mayor's job in 2009. Steinbrueck waited an election cycle too long, and finished third in this August's primary. He

House Speaker John Boehner is a boss who can't get his workers to deliver on time. Again and again, Boehner has reneged on pending deals after Tea Party extremists in his Republican caucus raised a ruckus. The result is the least achieving Congress in decades, lack of action on key issues like immigration and the Farm Bill ... and more than 50 token votes to repeal Obamacare. Opposition from right-wing lobbies to the Murray-Ryan budget deal finally made Boehner mad as hell. "Frankly I just think they've lost all credibility," he declared, and later "I don't care what they do." Is this a sign that the ineffectual speaker isn't going to take it anymore?

House Speaker John Boehner is a boss who can't get his workers to deliver on time. Again and again, Boehner has reneged on pending deals after Tea Party extremists in his Republican caucus raised a ruckus. The

House Speaker John Boehner is a boss who can't get his... Photo-5640576.76656 - Beaumont Enterprise

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Seattle City Councilman Richard Conlin seemed assured of a fifth term, facing a little-known Democratic activist and a "Socialist Alternative" community college instructor who began her campaign spouting 19th Century jargon about workers organizing. Conlin lagged in his money raising, and seemed serene in his encyclopedic knowledge of City Hall.

He underestimated, "misunderestimated" as George W. Bush would put it, an out-of-sorts public. The strands of that discontent -- at the dull council, at income inequality, at low wage jobs -- galvanized behind insurgent Kshama Sawant's campaign. The result was a shocking upset.

Seattle City Councilman Richard Conlin seemed assured of a fifth term, facing a little-known Democratic activist and a "Socialist Alternative" community college instructor who began her campaign spouting 19th

The bishops of America's Catholic Church, including Seattle Archbishop J. Peter Sartain, suffered a stinging defeat in 2012 when Washington, Maine and Maryland voted to legalize same-sex marriage. The tide of marriage equality has since become a tusnami. Gay marriage has become legal in Illinois, Minnesota, New Jersey, Delaware, Rhode Island, and Hawaii. The bishops filed a Supreme Court brief defending the anti-gay Defense of Marriage Act. The high court threw out a key provision of DOMA, and cleared the way for resumption of same-sex marriage in California. We've been "outmarketed", complained New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan. They've also lost hold over the flock.

The bishops of America's Catholic Church, including Seattle Archbishop J. Peter Sartain, suffered a stinging defeat in 2012 when Washington, Maine and Maryland voted to legalize same-sex marriage. The tide of

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has spent billions of taxpayer dollars, ruined thousands of lives and totally failed to stop marijuana smoking in America. An alumnus of the dope-smoking "Choom Gang" at Honolulu's Punahou High School sits in the White House. Washington and Colorado voted in 2012 to legalize, tax and regulate recreational use of cannabis. Stop this in court, eight former heads of the DEA urged the Obama administration. Instead, the administration chose to give legalization a chance. The 40-year "War on Drugs" may have witnessed its Waterloo.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has spent billions of taxpayer dollars, ruined thousands of lives and totally failed to stop marijuana smoking in America. An alumnus of the dope-smoking "Choom Gang" at